Joseph Cates

The Quick and the Dead

In 1876 Wyoming, the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Suzanna McKaskel, newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws, rugged frontiersman Con Vallian is the only hope.

The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James

This movie looks at the last years (not days, as implied in the title) of famous outlaws, Frank and Jesse James. The film opens in 1877 with the brothers trying to settle down after 15 years of thievery. Frank is shown to be a book-loving and family-oriented man, while brother Jesse is a money-hungry womanizer. The movie follows their lives through Jesse's death at the hands of the "rotten little coward" Bob Ford and Frank's death in 1892.

A Christmas Dream

In this NBC Christmas Special from 1984, Mr. T plays a street Santa Claus who meets a young boy, played by Emmanuel Lewis of TV's Webster, who doesn't share the spirit of Christmas. Mr. T sets out to change Billy's mind, taking him around the city to FAO Schwartz, where he gets a magic lesson from David Copperfield, and then to Radio City Music Hall, where he listens to Christmas songs sung by Maureen McGovern, imagines himself as one of the toy soldiers in the Rockettes' Christmas Show, meets Willie Tyler and his dummy Lester, and finally is moved to realize the true meaning of Christmas, before being reunited with his parents.

Special People

Brooke Adams is the real-life Diane Dupuy, the Canadian woman whose vision and drive molded a group of developmentally-challenged young adults into the Famous People Players, a professional puppet troupe that has become world-renowned, having performed Radio City Music Hall and Las Vegas (Liberace's opening act in 1975) to the People's Republic of China.

The Cradle Will Fall

Kathy DeMaio checks into the hospital and thinks she sees a body being loaded into the trunk of a car. When the body turns up later and the murderer, Dr. Highley, thinks that DeMaio can identify him, her life is put in jeopardy. Originally made for television and adapted from a novel by Mary Higgins Clark, the interesting twist to this thriller is that several cast members of the daytime soap opera "Guiding Light" play those same roles here.

The Berenstain Bears Play Ball

Papa Q. Bear wants more than golden honey to have one of his cubs play baseball. Brother has no interest, while Sister goes unnoticed.

The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine

The Berenstain Bears Comic Valentine is an animated television special based on the Berenstain Bears children's book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Produced by Buzz Potamkin and directed by Mordicai Gerstein and Al Kouzel, the program made its debut on NBC on February 13, 1982.

Magic with the Stars

Hollywood celebrities assist magicians in a program of magic and illusion.

Johnny Cash: Christmas in Scotland

The juxtaposition may seem strange, but the Cash clan’s roots are in Scotland—even if Johnny’s speculation about descent from the 12th-century King Malcolm may be more guesswork than genealogy. Andy Williams guest-stars.

The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise

A very inquisitive Brother Bear is wondering why Spring is taking so long to arrive. With Easter approaching and a new arrival to the Bear family on the way, Brother looks for answers, and Mama teaches him the true meaning of Spring.

The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw

It's Thanksgiving in Bear Country, and the Bear Family get nervous when Mama Bear thinks they've gotten a sign that the "Thanksgiving Legend of Bigpaw" is coming true. The legend says that when bears get greedy and don't share their harvest, Bigpaw will come to destroy Bear Country. Eventually, the bears all learn a lesson about who Bigpaw really is, and they celebrate the holiday.

All Commercials... A Steve Martin Special

Steve Martin's third NBC special serves as a salute to 1970s television commercials. Taking shots at everything from "Suzy Chapstick" to Palmolive to advertising agencies, this special showcased Martin's genius for physical comedy.

The Last Married Couple in America

Jeff and Mari Thompson are contently married, but they are stunned to see many of their friends and neighbors going through separations and divorces. Seemingly surrounded by people with domestic problems, Jeff and Mari begin to question their own relationship.

Steve Martin: Comedy Is Not Pretty

Steve Martin's second NBC special was made up entirely of sketches. Highlights include: Marty Robbins' "El Paso" with monkeys; "The Death Of Socrates"; and "Bizarre Oddities Of The World."

Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol

Charled Dicken's tale A Christmas Carol takes a contemporary jolt in this original musical set in modern-day Tennessee. Cyrus Flint is a mean old banker whose one and only concern is the welfare of Flint City Bank. Dennis and Laura Pritchett are two parents struggling to make enough money to pay for an operation their son needs. Flint is organizing a songwriting and singing contest with a $2000 first prize to promote his bank.

Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol

Charled Dicken's tale A Christmas Carol takes a contemporary jolt in this original musical set in modern-day Tennessee. Cyrus Flint is a mean old banker whose one and only concern is the welfare of Flint City Bank. Dennis and Laura Pritchett are two parents struggling to make enough money to pay for an operation their son needs. Flint is organizing a songwriting and singing contest with a $2000 first prize to promote his bank.

The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree

Papa Bear and the cubs search the woods for the perfect Christmas tree, but run afoul of the woodland animals who live in the trees they aim to cut down.

Stubby Pringle's Christmas

Ranch hand Stubby Pringle journeys to a Christmas dance, hoping to find his true love, and learns a valuable lesson about the spirit of the holiday along the way.

Steve Martin: A Wild and Crazy Guy

Steve Martin's first network special for NBC offers part concert footage (shot at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles) and part sketch comedy.

Have I Got a Christmas for You

Members of a town's Jewish community decide to substitute for their Christian friends and neighbors so they can enjoy Christmas. The good folk humorously attempt jobs they have never done before.

The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1976

For his 1976 Christmas special taped November 1-6, Cash went home to the family's farm in Bon Aqua, Tennessee, and to their house in Hendersonville, outside Nashville. The rural setting at Bon Aqua invites city-boy/country-boy ribbing between Cash and his first guest, Manhattan-born pop veteran Tony Orlando, who points out that "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" is "my prison song". Join other special guests Roy Clark, Merle Travis, Barbara Mandrell and Billy Graham in this holiday-inspired first Christmas special from the legendary Johnny Cash.

Ann-Margret: When You're Smiling

Ann-Margret's television special taped in front of a live audience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous, 'S Gershwin

A musical tribute to brothers George and Ira Gershwin

Dames at Sea

Dames at Sea is a musical with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise. The musical is a parody of large, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-style movie musicals in which a chorus girl, newly arrived off the bus from the Midwest to New York City, steps into a role on Broadway and becomes a star. It originally played Off-Off-Broadway in 1966 at the Caffe Cino and then played Off-Broadway, starring newcomer Bernadette Peters, beginning in 1968 for a successful run. The television version was broadcast on the Bell System Family Theater on NBC on November 15, 1971. The cast had extra chorus girls and boys, and there were full production numbers, turning into the very thing it was spoofing. Ann Miller was singled out for praise, especially when "she was allowed to tap out her brassy...temperamental star..."

George M!

Based on the semi-hit Broadway musical of 1968 and starring original stage star Joel Grey, this TV version has been re-fashioned in significant ways. The premise here is that a small group of modern-day performers have gotten together in a rehearsal studio to celebrate George M. Cohan's life and work. Bernadette Peters also returns from the original cast, along with a cohort of movie, television and stage stars as the other cast members.

Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man

A CBS television special, renowned for its legendary "Yma, Ava....Yma, Uta... Yma, Oona" sequence. Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man (1970), won Anne Bancroft her only Emmy for her portrayal of 14 different woman in 14 musical and comedy sketches. Bancroft's husband Mel Brooks contributed to the script and also appears onscreen.

Who Killed Teddy Bear?

A grim police detective embarks on a one-man crusade to track down a depraved sex maniac when a nightclub deejay receives a disturbing series of obscene phone calls. Finding himself getting far too close to the victim for comfort, the hard-boiled cop must track down the unbalanced pervert before he can carry out his sick threats...

The Bachelor

A bachelor account executive with an advertising agency thinks he has the perfect set-up with three girlfriends. And then there is Marion his devoted secretary who worships him and will do anything for him.